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The “Hermeneutic of Continuity” and Twentieth-Century Legislation on Sacred Music Philip Carl Smith

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The “Hermeneutic of Continuity” and Twentieth-Century Legislation on Sacred Music Philip Carl Smith Antiphon . (2009): 247-26 The “Hermeneutic of Continuity” and Twentieth-century Legislation on Sacred Music Philip Carl Smith INTRODUCTION In an address to the Roman Curia delivered on 22 December 2005, Pope Benedict XVI raised some important questions: “What has been the result of the [Second Vatican] council? Was it well received? What, in the acceptance of the council, was good and what was in- adequate or mistaken? What still remains to be done?... Why has the implementation of the council in large parts of the church thus far been so difficult?”2 In addressing these questions, the Holy Father reminds us that the proper implementation of Vatican II “depends on the correct in- terpretation of the council or – as we would say today – on its proper hermeneutic, the correct key to its interpretation and application.” Benedict describes two contrary interpretations which he identifies as “a hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” and the “hermeneutic of reform.” The former “risks ending in a split between the preconciliar church and the postconciliar church” by claiming that the texts of the Council “are the result of compromises in which, to reach unanimity, it was found necessary to keep and reconfirm many old things that are now pointless.” According to this view, “it would be necessary not to follow the texts of the council but its spirit. In this way, obvi- ously, a vast margin was left open for the question on how this spirit should subsequently be defined and room was consequently made for every whim.” On the other hand, the “hermeneutic of reform,” which Benedict styles also the “hermeneutic of continuity,” is an An earlier version of this paper was read at the 2007 General Con- ference of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, held at the Pontifical College Jo- sephinum, Columbus, Ohio, 20-2 September 2007. The author is grateful to Fr Neil J. Roy, Dr Alcuin Reid, Thomas Gordon Smith, John Haigh, and Brian Austin FSSP, for their helpful comments. 2 BENEDICT XVI, Discourse to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005; English translation in Origins 5 (26 January 2006) 54-9, here 56. BENEDICT XVI, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum cari- 248 PHILIP CARL SMITH interpretation of the Vatican II documents “in the continuity of the one subject-church that the Lord has given to us … a subject that increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying people of God.”4 One of the most controversial issues surrounding Vatican II concerns the proper interpretation of its constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum concilium, dated 4 December 96 (henceforth SC). The question of sacred music, which the Council Fathers describe as mak- ing a “necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy” (SC 2),5 has been a particularly contested one. Despite the explicit mandate that the Church’s musical tradition be preserved and promoted (SC 4), the current state of Roman Catholic sacred music, and in particular the near abandonment of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony, indicates that many have interpreted the constitution on the liturgy through the hermeneutic of discontinuity or simply chosen to ignore its contents. Although the proper interpretation of some statements in Sacro- sanctum concilium is not always self-evident – a problem that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) attributes to the “definite tension within the Council document,” which “reflects the tension between the various approaches represented in the Council itself”6 – many of the contested questions could be clarified by use of the her- meneutic of continuity and reform, that is, by interpreting the ambigu- ous statements of Sacrosanctum concilium in light of the Church’s prior pronouncements on sacred music. This approach is indeed sanctioned by the document itself: the Council Fathers state that they are “keep- ing the norms and precepts of ecclesiastical tradition and discipline and having regard to the purpose of sacred music, which is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful…” (SC 2). Likewise, the 967 Instruction Musicam sacram (henceforth MS) recognizes the continuing relevance of the Church’s musical legislation, noting that, although it attempts to clarify certain questions regarding the implementation of Sacrosanctum concilium, “It is not a collection of all tatis (22 February 2007), in Origins 6 (22 March 2007) §, n. 6, p. 655. All citations are drawn from this translation. 4 BENEDICT XVI, Discourse to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005. 5 In Documents on the Liturgy 1963-1979, trans. International Com- mittee on English in the Liturgy (Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 982) [henceforth: DOL] , §2, p. 2. All citations of Sacrosanctum concilium are drawn from this volume. 6 JOSEPH RATZINGER, The Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco: Ignatius, 986) 98. The “HermeneUtic of ContinUitY” AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY Legislation ON Sacred MUSIC 249 the legislation on sacred music, but a statement simply of the principal norms that seem most needed at the present time” (MS ).7 In this paper, I will consider several questions of crucial impor- tance to the use of sacred music in the contemporary Church within the context of Sacrosanctum concilium and the twentieth-century papal directives on sacred music and the liturgy. Which forms of music are encouraged, which are permitted, and which are forbidden in the lit- urgy? How is sacred music to be employed in the liturgy in light of an accurate understanding of the principle of participatio actuosa? Which instruments may accompany sacred song or be otherwise employed in the liturgy? What sort of musical and liturgical instruction should be provided for clergy, religious, and laypeople? What must be done to prepare for a genuine resurgence of musical excellence? The popes whose directives on the matter will be noted are St Pius X (90-4), Pius XI (922-9), Pius XII (99-58), John Paul II (978-2005), and Benedict XVI presently reigning. Each has explicitly acknowledged the continuity of his teaching on sacred music with that of his predecessors. Finally, I will consider what conclusions and recommendations for future progress may be drawn from the history of these documents and their implementation. PRINCIPLES OF SACRED MUSIC Pope Pius X explains in his celebrated motu proprio on Church music, Tra le sollecitudini (henceforth TS) of 90, that one of the leading concerns of his office is to maintain and increase the beauty of the house of God, in which the holy mysteries of our faith are celebrated, in which the Christian people come together to … join in the public and solemn liturgical prayers of the Church. Nothing then should be allowed in the sacred building that could disturb or lessen the piety and devotion of the faithful, nothing that could be a reasonable motive for displeasure or scandal, nothing especially that could offend against the dignity and holiness of the sacred rites, and that would therefore be unworthy of the house of prayer, or of the majesty of Almighty God. (TS, Introduction)8 7 CONGREGATION OF RITES, Instruction Musicam sacram (5 March 967) in DOL 508, §424, pp. 29-94. 8 PIUS X, Motu Proprio Tra le sollecitudini (22 November 90), in ROBERT F. HAYBURN, Papal Legislation on Sacred Music: 95 A.D. to 1977 A.D. (Collegeville MN: Liturgical Press, 979) 222. All citations of the English translation are drawn from this book. 250 PHILIP CARL SMITH The Pope expresses his concern that even in churches where most of the liturgy is done well and reverently, there is a tendency to neglect the right principles of an art used in the service of the liturgy, principles expressed very clearly in the laws of the Church, in the decrees of general and provincial councils, and in the repeated commands of the sacred congregations and of the supreme pontiffs, Our predecessors.… And since indeed Our first and most ardent wish is that a true Christian spirit flourish and be kept always by all the faithful, the first thing to which We must attend is the holiness and dignity of the churches in which Our people assemble, in order to acquire that spirit from its first and most indispensable source, by taking an active part9 in the sacred mysteries and in the solemn public prayers of the Church.… Wherefore, in order that no one may in the future put forward as an excuse that he does not rightly know his duty, in order that all possible uncertainty concerning laws already made may be removed, We consider it advisable to sum up shortly the principles that govern the sacred music of liturgical services, and to present again the chief laws of the Church against faults in this matter. (Ibid.) A comparison of the first paragraph ofTra le sollecitudini with the chap- ter on sacred music from Sacrosanctum concilium shows the continuity in language and content of the Church’s musical teaching between Pius X and Vatican II: Sacred music, being an integral part of the liturgy, is directed to the general object of this liturgy, namely, the glory of God and the sanctification and edification of the faithful. It helps to increase the beauty and splendor of the ceremonies of the Church, and since its chief duty is to clothe the liturgical text, which is presented to the understanding of the faithful, with suitable melody, its object is to make that text more efficacious, so that the faithful through this means may be the more roused to devotion, and better disposed to gather to themselves the fruits of grace which come from the celebration of the sacred mysteries. (TS ) 9 Acta Sancte Sedis 6 (90-04) : “Essendo, infatti, Nostro vivis- simo desiderio che il vero spirito cristiano refiorisca per ogni modo e si man- tenga nei fedeli tutti, è necessario provvedere prima di ogni altra cosa alla santità e dignità del tempio, dove appunto i fedeli si radunano per attingere tale spirito dalla sua prima ed indispensabile fonte, che è la partecipazione attiva ai sacrosanti misteri e alla preghiera pubblica e solenne della Chiesa” (emphasis added).
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